Transcript Chapter 1, Section 2

Chapter 1, Section 2
Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamia’s Civilization
• Over thousands of years, some of the
early farming villages developed into
civilizations.
• The first civilizations arose in river
valleys:
– Good farming conditions
– Easier to get from place to place
– Easier to trade goods & ideas
Mesopotamia’s Civilization
• As cities took shape, so did the need for organization.
–
–
–
–
–
Someone had to make plans/decisions about common concerns
Formed governments
Leaders took charge of food, supplies & building projects
Made laws to keep order
Assembled armies to fend off enemies
Mesopotamia’s Civilization
• With fewer worries about meeting their basic needs,
people had more time to think about other things.
• They developed religions & arts, ways of writing and
calendars to tell time.
• Early civilizations had a class structure
– People held different places in society depending on what work
they did & how much wealth or power they had
The Rise of Sumer
• The earliest know civilization
formed in what is now
southern Iraq.
• It was a flat plain between
the Tigris & Euphrates River.
• It was called Mesopotamia.
The Rise of Sumer
• Mesopotamia lay in the eastern part of the fertile
crescent.
• This was a curving strip of land that extends from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
• It had a hot, dry climate.
• In the spring the rivers flooded leaving rich, fertile soil
behind
The Rise of Sumer
• In the spring the rivers flooded leaving rich, fertile soil for
farming.
• The flooding was very unpredictable leaving the farmers
to believe they needed their gods to bless their farming
efforts.
• Over time they learned to build dams & channels to
control the seasoned floods.
The Rise of Sumer
• They also built walls, waterways
& ditches to bring water to their
fields (irrigation).
• Irrigation allowed them to grow
plenty of food & support a large
population.
• By 3000 B.C. many cities had
formed in southern Mesopotamia
in a region known as Sumer.
City-States
• Sumerian cities were isolated
from each other by
geography.
• Each Sumerian city & the
land around it became a
separate city-state.
• It had its own government &
was not part of any larger
unit.
City-States
• Sumerian city-states often went
to war with one another.
• They fought to gain glory & to
control more territory.
• Each city surrounded itself with
a wall for protection.
• Stone & wood were scarce so
they used river mud as their
main building material.
City-States
• They mixed the mud with
crushed reeds, formed bricks &
left them in the sun to dry.
• The bricks were waterproof
and used for walls in homes,
temples & other buildings.
Gods & Rulers
• The Sumerians believed in many
gods.
• Each was thought to have power
over a natural force or a human
activity.
• They tried hard to please the gods
& would build a grand temple
called a ziggurat to the chief god.
• Ziggurat means “mountain of god”
or “hill of heaven”
Gods & Rulers
• The ziggurat dominated
the city.
• At the top was a shrine – a
special place on the top
where only priests &
priestesses could enter.
• The priests & priestesses
controlled much of the
land.
Gods & Rulers
• Later, kings ran the
government, led armies,
& organized building
projects.
• The first kings were
probably war heroes &
their position became
hereditary.
Life in Sumer
• Sumerian kings lived in large palaces.
• Most people in Sumer farmed & lived in mud-brick houses.
• Some were artisans who made pottery, metal products or
cloth.
• Others worked as merchants or traders.
Life in Sumer
• People in Sumer were divided into 3 social classes.
– 1. Upper Class: kings, priests & government officials
– 2. Middle Class: artisans, merchants, farmers, fishers
– 3. Lower Class: enslaved people who worked on farms or in
temples.
Life in Sumer
• The Sumerian left a lasting mark on world history.
• Their ideas & inventions were improved upon by other
people.
• As a result, Mesopotamia has been called the “cradle of
civilization.”
Why Was Writing Important?
• The Sumerians greatest
invention was writing.
• This is important because
it helps people
communicate & pass on
their ideas to others.
• They developed writing
to keep track of business
deals & other events.
Why Was Writing Important?
• Their writing was called
cuneiform.
• It consisted of hundreds of
wedge shaped marks cut into
damp clay tablets with a sharpended reed.
• Archaeologist have found
thousands of these cuneiform
tablets.
Why Was Writing Important?
• Usually only boys from
wealthy families learned to
write.
• They became known as
scribes.
• Scribes held honored
positions in society, often
going to become judges &
political leaders.
Sumerian Literature
• The Sumerians also produced
works of literature.
• The world’s oldest known story
comes from Sumer.
• It is called the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• An epic is a long poem that tells
the story of a hero.
Science & Math
• Sumerians also invented the wagon wheel to help carry
people & goods from place to place.
• Other inventions included the plow & sailboat.
• They first used geometry to put up buildings.
Science & Math
• They created a number
system based on 60 (60minute hour, 60-second
minute and 360-degree
circle).
• They also recorded the
position of the planets &
stars and developed a 12month calendar based on
the cycle of the moon.
Sargon & Hammurabi
• Over time, conflicts weakened
Sumer’s city-states.
• They became vulnerable to attacks by
outside groups such as the Akkadians
from northern Mesopotamia.
• The king of the Akkadians was named
Sargon.
• He conquered all of Mesopotamia in
2340 B.C.
Sargon & Hammurabi
• He set up the world’s first empire.
• Sargon’s empire lasted for more
than 200 years.
• In the 1800s B.C. a new group of
people became powerful in
Mesopotamia.
• They built the city of Babylon on
the Euphrates River & it quickly
became a center for trade.
Sargon & Hammurabi
• In 1792 B.C., the Babylonian king, Hammurabi began
conquering cities to the north & south creating the
Babylonian Empire.
• Hammurabi is best known for his laws or collection of
laws.
• He took what he believed were the best laws from each
city-state & put them into one code.
Sargon & Hammurabi
• The code covered crimes, farming and business activities,
and marriage & family.
• Many punishments in the Code of Hammurabi were
cruel, his laws mark an important step toward a fair
system of justice.